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Why doesnt Alabama play Boise St? I actually understand why Alabama doesnt(dont agree with it), but why doesnt a mid level BCS conference team play Boise St? Someone like South Carolina or Michigan St.

I think you guys are understating how much cap issues the Hawks are going to have the next couple of years. That is basically what the announcer was talking about. no, i understood what he was talking about, and i understand we're going to lose some guys. i was referring to the "blowing up" part. Blowing up may not be the right phrase, but I think Hawks fans should consider the situation Anahiem was in 2 yrs ago and Tampa Bay right after they won the Cup. Both teams seemed destined to be powers for years but were hit by the cap by overpaying some mediocre players. Both teams still have large pieces of the core group of players that they won the cups with, but lack the overall depth to be cup contenders now.

I think you guys are understating how much cap issues the Hawks are going to have the next couple of years. That is basically what the announcer was talking about. no, i understood what he was talking about, and i understand we're going to lose some guys. i was referring to the "blowing up" part. yeah that was dumb, but this is probably the only year that the hawks are truly loaded with a number of guys near their prime. they can't keep this team together because of the cap. they should still be really good in the future, but i would like them a lot more if they didn't have campbell and hossa. I agree with campbell but disagree with hossa. hossa is worth his cap hit(for a couple of years at least) if he stays healthy. Very similar players to campbell and huet could easily be had for half the price.

I think you guys are understating how much cap issues the Hawks are going to have the next couple of years. That is basically what the announcer was talking about.

I think the Hawks would have to give up at least and equal amount in salary to get Kovalchuk. So the pricetag is going to be high. I think something else to consider as a Hawks fan is this, if the Hawks dont get him who will?

Didnt Ozzie Smith get a couple of beer distributors

just kind of looking over all these stats, something really came out to me. The Cubs bench in 2008 is really really good. In 2009 it was really really bad

Does Boston have any real bad contracts? I know that Drew's contract isnt good, but are they just throwing money away for poor to bad productivity anywhere?

Almost everything I read leading up to the announcement had Buff as an outsider/long shot to make it. I think his reputation in Chicago is higher then it is around the rest of the league. As a Wings fan I have been impressed at times with him, but I have also watched Hawks games where I didnt even notice that he played. Honestly, I think he was real good in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs last year but did seem to be more interested in making a physical presence against the Wings then playing hockey in the WCF. I am glad that Team USA didnt go for guys like Guerrin and Modano. Play young, scrappy and fast on the bigger ice. I think USA will be hard pressed to medal, but they will be a fun team to watch.

Big Ten goes even with the much superior SEC in bowl games again.

I wonder if a higher profile coach did the same thing what the feeling towards him be? If say Pere Carroll did something similar would he have as much sympathy as Leach seems to be getting here? I think it is obvious that the issues between Tech and Leach go deeper then this incident. I am sure USC would not suspend Carroll for a bowl game for this kind of incident.

I cheer for all Big Ten teams in bowl games even Michigan and OSU, dont understand why fans of Big Ten teams cheer against conference rivals in bowl games. The whole ending to the Nwestern/Auburn game was just a comedy of errors. It was almost like the other team was saying, "here you win"

trying to do line combos for team Canada is fun. I think Finland will be a tough out and may medal.

I fully expect Detroit to make a strong push and even contend for the division once they get their team back. They are too well coached and too talented. I don't see any way they remain the 8th seed. I think it is amazing that they are in the 8th seed. Datsyuk, Lidstrom and an AHL team has been what they have been playing with. Filpula is back and Cleary is supposed to come back next week. Not sure about Franzen, Kronwall and Zetterburg.

You crowd of haters are the ones that apparently think that the fact that we think Meyer is a douche stems solely from his not coming to ND five years ago (even though he basically was all but signed at Florida by the time ND talked to him). There are thousands of fans that think Meyer is an ass, but if Notre Dame fans do it it's because of penis envy. Whatever. Who thinks Meyer is an ass? I am no fan of Florida but dont think any less of Urban Meyer than say Brian Kelly or Bob Stoops or Mac Brown or Pete Carroll.

Pretty much. I dont think Hendry will or would even consider doing it though.

I think you are making this a black/white either/or thing. I am not suggesting that the Cubs go on a youth movement or purge payroll just to save a buck. I am suggesting that t current core is MOST probably not ever going to win a WS without some immediate infusion or quality youth or increasing payroll. I am suggesting that the next contracts ARam and DLee sign will be bad contracts because they will be declining in value through those contracts. I am just suggesting that if we can get good value for Z, Lee and ARam we should take it. If we can then use the money saved to either replace them or upgrade somewhere else with contracts that will not be bad contracts. To be honest with you I would be all for keeping them and resigning them if we didnt already have several contracts that are unmovable and low producing. I guess what I am saying is that it is obvious to me that the current thing is not going to work. Of course I want to win a WS, not be above average with good marketing

As I posted earlier, there's no way Ricketts comes in and tears up a team that has a decent chance of contending to rebuild for another 3-4 years. Being a large-market team, they might rebuild on a minor scale as contracts come off the books. So basically what you are saying is that Ricketts is going to continue the Tribunes "strive for above average and good marketing" Well this sale was disappointing.

I think it is possible, not sure I would call it feasible. I think it is much more feasible to say the Cubs are an 85 win team without much room for improvement with the current core and salary structure. I think it is much more feasible to come to the understanding that the current core is mostly in their prime to declining years. So unless an immediate impact of talent comes from the system or influx of talent through FA, I think it is most realistic to say the Cubs will be declining in the next couple of years.(as shown by last years performance) While I agree that the "current core is mostly in their prime to declining years", I do expect rebound years from Soriano, Soto, Fontenot, and Marmol. Also, DLee and ARam haven't shown any signs of slowing down and Zambrano (while still reasonably young) still hasn't been the big winner that everyone has expected. I think Soriano and Soto will be better, not sure they will be as good as they were in 08. Marmol is a relief pitcher so his improving will not have a large impact on win totals. Fontenot may improve but I suspect his career year was 08 and expecting him to return to that level is unrealistic. Lets not forget that Dempster also probably had a career year in 08. Also none of this replaces the Edmonds and DeRossa production from 08. Like I said, it is possible for the Cubs to return to this level, just not realistic.

I think it is possible, not sure I would call it feasible. I think it is much more feasible to say the Cubs are an 85 win team without much room for improvement with the current core and salary structure. I think it is much more feasible to come to the understanding that the current core is mostly in their prime to declining years. So unless an immediate impact of talent comes from the system or influx of talent through FA, I think it is most realistic to say the Cubs will be declining in the next couple of years.(as shown by last years performance)

Ok 0 value was probably a little over the top. I will say that he has much more trade value today then he will at the deadline. 1st he currently is a .970 OPS. I would not bet that he is any better at the deadline adn will probably be lower. 2nd He currently has a whole year left on his contract. At the deadline it will only be 2 months. There is time currently for a team to work on an extension to get a trade approved. My guess a desperate team may give him an extention at teh deadline, but it will be more in Lee's favor then and will do more to decrease his trade value. Anyway to me the current Cubs are good but cannot become great for many (Jim Hendry caused) reasons. Yes they may win the division and luck into a WS like the Cardinals a couple of years ago. They however are not even close to the Yankees and others. I have a hard time seeing them get there with the current core without a major payroll increase. Lastly the Cubs are much closer to being a bad team then a great team in teh next couple of years with teh core players starting to be lessor players. These core players are going to cost the bulk of the payroll to be going into bad. If you have a feasible solution to making the current Cubs core into a great team in teh next 2 years, I can surely change my mind on wanting to break it up.

Amazing that any Cub fan would want to go back to the days of always losing again. Trading the core of the current team when they still have a good chance would be ignorant. The farm system is starting to produce again on its own, and the Cubs have absolutely no reason to shed that much payroll in the market they are in. I would much rather perfer that they try to win this year. The next contracts that DLee and Aram sign will be bad contracts. There is also a possibility it will not be with the Cubs after next year. I also think the rebuild is inevitable, so why not get it started now. Also, what are you trying to win? Division? NL? WS? I think the division is the only reasonable goal with this team. I dont think the Cubs will do it. So the playoffs are a crapshoot for every team but the Cubs? The Cubs farm system has made major strides over the past year but it's nowhere near close being able to anchor a rebuilding team. Castro is never going to be a middle of the order hitter and Vitter won't be for quite a while (though I personally doubt he ever will). Our pitching prospects are all projected to be #2 and #3 starters. As for trading Z, Lee and Ramirez, they all have NTC's so you're not going to get maximum value for them anyways. Teams that do firesales are teams that know they won't be able to resign their players on the open market AND won't be able to sign an adequate replacement on the open market so they try to maximize value by trading players as early as possible. That's not the position the Cubs are in, and there's no reason not to wait to trade them until the trading deadline if we're out of it. Lee will have 0 value at the Deadline. I would imagine that for Lee adn Aram to waive their NTC they would have to be extended by the teams that are going to trade for them. As I have said their next contracts will probably be bad contracts. So if the Cubs used some sense they would jettison them now for what would probably be not great return. However, the payroll relief may allow for close to equal talent in the FA market next year that may be younger. This is basically the same route the Tigers took in trading Granderson. In the case of Zambrano it may be better to wait until the deadline. He would really have to tank to lower his trade value. He may improve his trade value by pitching well though. I personally dont believe that the playoffs are a crapshoot. I do believe that the shortness of the postseason does make it easy for lessor teams to win. However I think the better teams win more often then not.

Amazing that any Cub fan would want to go back to the days of always losing again. Trading the core of the current team when they still have a good chance would be ignorant. The farm system is starting to produce again on its own, and the Cubs have absolutely no reason to shed that much payroll in the market they are in. I would much rather perfer that they try to win this year. The next contracts that DLee and Aram sign will be bad contracts. There is also a possibility it will not be with the Cubs after next year. I also think the rebuild is inevitable, so why not get it started now. Also, what are you trying to win? Division? NL? WS? I think the division is the only reasonable goal with this team. I dont think the Cubs will do it.

I think the Cubs should be realistic and examine not only trading Z, but also Lee and ARam.

Good luck with trading Huet. I do think Niemi deserves a chance to be the #1 guy. I think the only chance the Hawks have of trading Huet is if he proves he can be a top playoff performer though. Kind of a tough catch-22 situation.